Poor Pelly. After moving with her family from Phobos to Mars, she is ridiculed for the fuzzy topknot or "fluffernobbin" on her head. Snooty classmate Tera flaunts a drawing of her own family with matching tentacles and a two-headed baby. "This is what normal families look like," says Tera. "Your family is weird." Desperate to be normal, Pelly takes some drastic measures, only to learn from a visiting opera star that her fluffernobbin actually makes her quite special.

Anyone who has ever felt like an alien will immediately relate to Pelly's woes, and cheer at her victorious realization that it's not so bad to be different. Author Shana Corey makes the problems of Martians seem as familiar as Earthlings', and illustrator Mark Teague's chartreuse, purple, and orange first graders are adorable in sweaters, skirts, and blue jeans. Don't miss the first in the series by this creative pair: First Graders From Mars: Horus's Horrible Day. (Ages 5 to 8)

Source: Emilie Coulter, Amazon.com.

A stellar new story in Shana Corey and Mark Teague's irresistible Martian chronicles where desk lamps watch you and plants cover their ears from bad singing. The Martian words (meep meep) will delight the read-aloud crowd. The series is at once intelligent, reassuring, and appealing ­ while dealing sensitively with children's anxieties.